Agri-environment schemes and dry weather: Timeline of NFU work
NFU President meets Defra Secretary on farm to discuss farming challenges
Highlighting the NFU’s proactive work, NFU President Tom Bradshaw put forward suggestions to Defra Secretary Steve Reed on changing Defra’s current approach, particularly around forage needs heading into winter.
Photograph: PagePix Ltd
Timely responses needed
At its next meeting with the RPA on 27 August, the NFU will raise the need for a more flexible approach by the RPA and timely responses to requests for changes to agreements.
NFU calls for future environmental schemes to learn from current drought crisis
As Defra develops the next round of the SFI the NFU is urging the department to ensure the scheme supports farmers’ resilience in the face of a changing climate. With increasingly extreme dry and wet periods, there must be greater flexibility in agri-environment schemes.
Proactive approach needed
The NFU raised calls on Defra and the RPA to take a proactive approach to managing the issues members are having with being able to cut or graze certain options.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw raises concerns at the Great Yorkshire Show
NFU President Tom Bradshaw meets with Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner at the Great Yorkshire Show to raise members' concerns.
NFU raises concerns on dry weather impact
The NFU first raised with the RPA (Rural Payments Agency) our concerns about the impact the dry weather will be starting to have on farms and agri-environmental agreement scheme delivery and the need for a pro-active approach.
The RPA advised that if agreement holders are affected, they need to contact the RPA for either a MTA (Minor Temporary Adjustment) for Countryside Stewardship or a CoC (Change of Circumstance) for SFI, the RPA would monitor the situation.
The NFU has continued to raise our concerns on this nearly weekly at every relevant RPA meeting since. The NFU urged the RPA to act early and warned that farmers would be nervous about submitting an MTA/CoC due to the payment repercussions; numbers of MTA/CoC alone would not be representative of the impact.